


Family means no one’s left behind

by Firebird103



Category: Mother 1 | EarthBound Zero | EarthBound Beginnings, Mother 2: Gyiyg no Gyakushuu | EarthBound
Genre: 4th-D slip is the best plot device. Change my mind, Angst and Comfort, At times it will be fluffier than Ninten’s hair blow dried, Canon Divergence, Captivity, Emotion suppression, Emotional Manipulation, Empath, Eve (mentioned) - Freeform, F/M, Family Bonding, Fluff, Giegue is trying his best man, Illness, Maaaaaaaaybe Stockholm syndrome....not sure, Ninten is a special boy, Other, PSI - Freeform, Pippi, Pollyanna - Freeform, Referenced past abuse, Starmen, Trauma, sibling torture, teddy - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-11
Updated: 2019-09-16
Packaged: 2020-04-24 10:34:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,353
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19171516
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Firebird103/pseuds/Firebird103
Summary: Ninten; he was never destined to stop his great-uncle from wiping out humanity. No, that was that kid from the future’s job. Yet he attacked early, so one simply had to change fate.Giegue; he had mourned the loss of his beloved mother and had to deal with abuse and betrayal, and now the only one standing in his way was all he had left of her. He couldn’t lose her againNow together, Ninten will have to adapt to his unfortunate circumstances, it isn’t like he has a choice. When an alien with a deadly power has literally taken you as a captive, you have no choice.





	1. Prologue: The divergence

“I am not completely without mercy however......Ninten, surrender yourself. You’re PSI is weak, and no match against mine. Come home with me” 

Ninten froze in place at the sound of that chilling voice, it sent shivers down his spine. Behind him, his two friends, the ones who were responsible for him getting this far, called out in protest. Ana, the sweet blonde girl who always wore a wide-brimmed hat over her two pigtails covered her mouth in horror at the mere thought of loosing the boy that she had just confessed to. Lyoid, the socially awkward albino, gripped his backpack full of bottle rockets, ready to set them off at a moment’s notice. Ninten was his first actual friend, he wouldn’t lose him without a fight. 

Ninten was more confused than anything by the Alien’s, no, his great-uncle’s words. Earth was Ken Itoi’s home. And the prospect of leaving his mom and little sisters alone to go after this looney was almost sickening. His hand on his aluminum bat clenched, knuckles turning an abalastor white. He may not know offensive PSI, but he couldn’t allow his family to be killed. Yet he was confused.

”Why me?” 

The words slipped out, his brown eyes glanced back at Ana and Lyoid with uncertainty. He hoped that it wasn’t because of some sadistic pleasure, it seemed that all aliens were sadistic. And PLEASE no more Starmen. Those things creeped out everyone. 

 

“You are all I have left of Maria, it just wouldn’t be fair to let her crumble with the rest of humanity.” 

Lyoid shuddered a time the implications of that, he was the only non-psychic in the party, yet he knew that even he wasn’t safe from Giegue’s wrath. The only one who truly had a shot of remaining unharmed was Ninten himself, yet the Alien was unpredictable, who knows what he could do, or how unstable he could become. Lyoid just hoped that Ninten had the sense to stand his ground and stay out of trouble. But Ninten was a Pollyanna, so it was unlikely.

Ana reached forward and clasped her hand around her crush’s. Ninten squeezed back with a reassuring grin, that didn’t quite reach his eyes. Ana could see that Ninten’s was riled up, so she nodded at him and took a step back, away from the splash zone. She knew what he was like when mad, often lashing out and becoming super salty with quite the barbed tongue. It was just one of the few thing she that she’s fell in love with. 

Ninten grit his teeth as he stared up at the ship, and the pod that Giegue resided within. He grabbed ahold of his red bandana and gripped it tightly as he called out in a loud, unwavering voice, “NEVER!! I’LL NEVER JOIN YOU AS LONG AS I LIVE!!!” Ana and Lyoid both let out a breath they didn’t know they were holding. 

A deep chuckle filled the air, one filled with malice. It could make even the strongest men Freeze with fear. A dark energy seemed to roll off of the pod in waves. Ninten narrowed his narrow brown as they slowly shifted to a blue colour, a trait unique to him when he activated his PSI. 

“I figured you would say that, I guess you need some additional..... persuasion?” 

Two shrieks. Ninten whipped around to see Ana and Lyoid, unmoving as ice crept up their legs and flames inched closer to their backs. “I-I CAN’T MOVE!!” Lyoid called out, his spiral patterned glasses were cloudy, so they concealed his eyes, yet fear was practically radiating off of him. Ana wasn’t much better, she was weeping with fear, her crystal blue eyes showed an endless pool of sadness and fear, yet she hardened her gaze at Ninten. 

“Don’t go!” She cried, “We’ll be okay.” Ninten wasn’t so sure, the noirnette was torn. He studied his friends frightened and threatened appearances and gulped, tears welling up in his own eyes. He turned around and looked at the pod with a defeated expression. “I have a condition, you have to promise to never intentionally endanger Earth, or humans, again.” 

Protests were called out as Ninten took a step forward with his head hanging. Giegue’s voice rang out again, this time much softer, as if consoling the child in the front. “I give you my word.” 

That’s all Ninten needed to break down. Hanging his head down and whipping off his cap so his black locks fell over his face to conceal the tears rolling down. He turned back to his friends, still in harms ways, and ran towards them. He didn’t care about the flames about to envelop them, just that he felt that he failed them. “I’m sorry... I’m so sorry. I have to. You’ll be h-hurt.” He gulped. 

Ana and Lyoid could only watch as their friend, their fearless, optimist, leader, broke down in front of them. Then moved their heads closer, as they couldn’t move anything else, and shushed him. “We’ll tell your mom. It’s okay Ninten. We forive you.” They murmured in unison. Ninten took a step back and wiped his eyes, before putting his cap back on, backwards, to keep his hair out of his face. He then reached into a phanny pack around his waste and pulled out an old book. He put it down and smiled weakly before walking towards the ship. “Fine....I-I’ll go with you.... but please, just don’t hurt them.” 

 

“I knew you’d see reason. Come along, Ninten.” 

Ninten was about to cry again when two Starmen approached from the ship, their noodle arms that frankly looked like smooth tentacles wrapped around Ninten’s arms and pulled him towards the ship. He kept his head down as he felt the dark energy dissipate, and Ana and Lyoid call out. Ninten couldn’t meet their eyes. He looked down as he felt the rock beneath him be replaced by a smooth surface. 

This was the start of his new life.


	2. Chapter 1: Rocky start

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It’s a real rough start

Ninten huffed as he leaned against the cold wall of the white room. When he had been taken aboard the ship, the Starmen had released some kind of strange sent that paralyzed him, and soon he had blacked out. When he came to, he was trapped in a white, cold room that didn’t seem to have any doors or any way out. It didn’t even look like there were any corners, yet the boy had felt them, so it was indeed an optical illusion. Ninten sighed, he was terrified, so scared that he felt numb. He usually didn’t admit defeat so easily, yet being trapped there, stuck, alone, it rendered him without courage. 

Suddenly, a large beam filled the center of the room and a Starman floated out of it, before it closed behind the robot. “Target identified, proceeding with task; beginning escort.” It beeped in a mechanical voice before it’s noodle-like arm wrapped around Ninten’s own arm. The boy flinched at the feeling of the cold and smooth metal around his limb. He almost expected it to feel slimy, but thankfully that wasn’t the case. The Starman turned it’s unusual head towards Ninten and the visor blinked a red colour from behind. “Detecting high blood pressure and fast heart rate. Signs seem to suggest the Target is stressed, afraid, or nervous. Proceeding with appropriate protocol.” 

Ninten stiffened when the Starman had seemingly analyzed him, but soon a quiet melody began to tinkle in the air, almost like a music box. In spite of himself, Ninten found himself slowly relaxing, though the feeling of impending doom still plagued him. The Starman’s visor blinked again and the mechanical voice rang out. “Heartbeat slowing and blood pressure dropping. Treatment successful, proceeding with task.” Ninten shut his eyes as a bright stream of light enveloped the Starman and himself. He felt weightless for a few moments before his feet were on solid ground again. 

Ninten opened his eyes and looked around, it was a hallway, and it was an off-white colour. The human boy looked back at the Starman as it started to pull him forwards. Down a few hallways until it reached a dead end. The Starman let go of Ninten for a moment and floated off to the side, facing a certain spot on the wall and staring at it. Soon it’s visor blinked a blue colour this time and the wall sank down into the ground. Ninten watched in awe as the way was opened up, and the Starman swiftly led the boy by the arm again inside of the room.

 

There, Giegue floated, his lean, grey body letting off an intimidating aura while his long, sleek tail waved and curled in every which way. Ninten gulped at he wall rose again, he was trapped. Giegue turned his snout-like head and looked at the Human with cold red eyes. Instead of whites in the eyes, they were black. It looked like a lazer pointer in a dark room. He turned the rest of himself and landed on the ground, pointed stubs for feet still moving with all the grace of a cat as he walked towards Ninten, who in turn took steps back until his back was pressed against a wall. 

“You are afraid of me.” Giugue observed, stopping his advancement. Ninten breathed out and clutched his red bandana, fear was indeed coursing through his veins. “Well no duh, you held my friends hostage, and literally tried to kill me. Plus when I come on board, you knock me out and put me in an empty white room. Also you’re kind of mentally unstable and an alien.” Ninten huffed, crossing his arms as sass practically radiated off of him. It helped him to ignore the stabbing feeling of terror that was caused by the alien who was supposed to be his great-uncle looming over him. 

“Ah, I see that I am a little out of touch with human mindsets. If I recall correctly from the brief mental check I made, you have a fear of being alone.” When Ninten paled and grabbed onto the fabric of his striped shirt, Giegue hastily added; “Do not worry, I did not look at much. It is your privacy.” 

Ninten narrowed his brown eyes and huffed, looking away and crossing his arms. He hated this already. Tears were forming in his eyes, and his breathing was shaky. He clenched his hands into fists and then inhale deeply sharply before forcing out words in a growl. “I hate you.” 

Giegue seemed unphased and hummed, he was already turning back towards the platform. “Yes, the feeling is mutual.” He replied nonchalantly. Ninten was seething at this point, the Starman’s visor blinked red again but couldn’t react quick enough before Ninten screamed. “I FRIGGEN HATE YOU!!!” 

Giegue was rather taken aback by the outburst and he snapped his elongated fingers, the Starman rushed forwards and wrapped it’s tendril-arms around Ninten’s thrashing body, as the boy was screaming in protest and calling the alien slurs, normally he would never use any crude language. Giegue sighed and his eyes flickered to the Starman’s visor. The Starman let out a small beep as it forced Ninten’s head to face the cat-like alien. Ninten made eye contact, brown meeting red when he suddenly felt strange. 

It was as if his limbs were made of lead as he felt his eyes drooping. Sleepiness became suddenly apparent and he found himself unable to tear his gaze away from the now-captivating red irises. Hypnosis, Ninten dully realized, yet he became tame against his will. He stopped struggling and his body hang limp in the cold metal arms. Hot tears welled up in his eyes, why couldn’t he go back to being a normal kid? Was that TOO much to ask? 

“You are rather troublesome, just like Mother, and yet your spirit won’t be suppressed easily.” Giegue murmured, crossing across the room and waving his three-fingered hand in front of an indent. Itopened up to reveal what looked to be a closet of sorts, with many human objects within. The intimidating alien pulled out a large red square of fabric, and floated back towards the Starman. The human boy was too drained to put up any fight whatsoever, so he was docile as the target of his hatred gave the robot the blanket. 

The next moments became a blur as Ninten slipped in and out of darkness, he remebered being moved again, and then laid down on something soft. And then, Ninten let go completely. The last thoughts on his mind were, that was a rough start.


	3. Chapter two: how can they possibly be Family?

‘ _Waking up from being knocked out seems to be a common occurrence...’_

 

Was Ninten’s thought as he stirred from his sleep. He was definitely on something soft, and he had something warm around him. The asthmatic human fluttered his eyes open and waited for the vision spheres to adjust to the fairly bright room and focus. He groggily looked at the warm and soft object around him, restricting lipped them on. his movements, to discover that it was a red blanket. He also didn’t have his cap or his bandana on. Because of the lack of hat, his raven-coloured hair fell over his eyes.

 

Ninten sighed as he sat up slowly, placing a hand to his throat. The bandana he wore was mostly to cover up a scar running horizontally, a little gift from his lamps when they had come to life and tried to murder him. He didn’t know LifeUp yet, so so when the lamp had tried to strangle him, like he needed more problems with his breathing, it left a scar.

 

Beneath him was something soft and springy, he assumed that it was a bed by the bounce when he had shifted. Ninten wiggled his toes to soon notice that his shoes were beside the bed on the floor. He then turned his body and slid off of the bed, inhaling softly as he took in his surroundings. This room was certainly not dull and white, it was a pale blue colour and looked like a normal bedroom. A dark wood nightstand stood beside the bed, proudly housing the missing scarlet and azure baseball cap and red bandana.

 

Smiling at the sight of his familiar accessories, Ninten took his blue sneakers into his hands and slipped them on. Turning around after his feet were “protected”, he smoothed out the blanket, making it neat and ready for use again. It was habit by this point, his Mom had instilled in him since as long as he could remember to always make his bed in the mornings. He liked the routine, it brought him a sense of ease, like not everything was changing around him.

 

A dull pang ached in his heart as he thought of his mom. Ninten was definitely homesick. In the corner of the square room, there was a closet. Ninten grew curious so he tucked his hair out of his eyes, under his cap, and opened the door. There were shirts in various sizes, ranging from a small child’s to a large adult. There was a drawer in the back of the closet that healed many other articles of clothing, again in many sizes. Tucked away in the back, however, a flash of pink caught Ninten’s eye. The brown orbs widened as he pulled it out and up to inspect it. It was Great-Grandma Maria’s usual pink dress.

 

Ninten paled as he ran a hand over the soft fabric, his heartbeat sped up and his breathing became shallow. He remembered his great-grandmother’s kind nature and her melodious voice. She seemed to radiate infinite kindness, and she made her grandson feel safe in her embrace. Magicant was her kingdom, yet she left it when she finally found peace, resting alongside her husband, that _demon_ , George.

 

His vision blurred with tears and he soon folded the dress and placed it back into the closet carefully. The Asthmatic psychic normally wasn’t careful with things, but something like this was too sentimental to treat it with anything less than respect. Nothing else of interest was within the closet so Ninten closed the door and crossed back over to the night table. He took the bandana and tied it around his neck, immediately feeling a lot more at ease that his scar was covered.

 

He didn’t like nosy questions very much.

 

Ninten then tugged at the drawer handle of the night table, curiosity putting his body on autopilot. Inside was another familiar item, a musical instrument called an Ocarina. He took the instrument into his hands carefully and ran a digit over the smooth, yet bumpy, surface. Ninten was by no means good with an Ocarina, but he loved playing them anyways. Too bad that it was a wind instrument, and he had asthma. _Good times._

Said asthmatic boy put his hands into playing position and soon rose the instrument to his mouth. Blowing into the mouthpiece, it produced a warm and pretty sound. Ninten closed his eyes as his fingers moved to cover and uncover holes, producing a beautiful melody. He paused to take a deep breath before continuing. He was lost in the notes, before he heard a sound behind him.

 

“That is a very pretty noise. What is it?” Ninten whipped around and held the Ocarina protectively to his chest, sending a glare the speaker’s way. He was still catching his breath, but his expression held pure hatred. Giegue sighed and floated closer to Ninten, bowing his head. “Yesterday I angered you, and that was not alright of me to do. I am sorry for everything, Ninten.”

 

Ninten was taken aback by this apology. He lowered his guard a bit and sighed, some of the hatred melting away. He looked at his feet, unwilling to meet the gieeg’s crimson eyes. Not after yesterday, Giegue was so powerful, and he was weak in comparison. Giegue took the movement as an invitation to float closer, which Ninten surprisingly allowed.

 

“You are upset...may I ask why?”

 

Ninten sighed and slowly looked up st Giegue’s snout, not making eye contact. He was still mad, upset that he was feeling this way. He hated it. “Can’t you just read my mind and find out? Why do I have to talk? You’re obviously the powerful one, I couldn’t stop you. You used my friends to persuade you to come. It’s.....hard.” Ninten hadn’t realized that he accidentally spilled it until it was too late.

 

Giegue looked at Ninten with an expression of sympathy. He floated until he was gently pulling Ninten to sit on the bed, he Didn’t force him per say, he pulled on the human’s arm gently, he had a choice. Ninten debated this, however a lingering fear of what might happen if he refused pushed him to sit next to his Great-Uncle. Giegue sighed, tail curling up around his younger family, this was his family, and he felt an urge to protect him. “I am an empath, Ninten, I have a way with emotions. So, will you allow me to help you? You don’t have to, it’s your choice.”

 

The human would never admit it, but he liked the feeling of the warm tail wrapping around his side, it definitely made him feel.... almost safe, he still didn’t trust Giegue whatsoever. It couldn’t hurt to try though, maybe it really was something nice. “.......Fine, as long as it doesn’t hurt me.” He muttered.

 

Giegue smiled, a closed smile, since he was professional, but a smile nonetheless. He reached and placed his long paws on his Grand-nephew’s head. The sensation was, strange, to say the least. Ninten could feel a shift in his emotions clearly, a warm feeling engulfed him and his worries started to melt away. He was happy, the happiness finally emerged from behind the clouds, it was never truly missing from his mind, since he was a Pollyanna by nature, overly optimistic and friendly, yet when he crashed, it was hard. His happiness was never too deeply buried though.

 

“.....Thank you, I feel a lot better....” 

“It’s quite alright, child.”


	4. Chapter Three: Two steps forward, two steps back

After the initial bonding, Ninten had grown closer to Giegue, he liked talking to the cat alien, and they were smiling in each other’s company. Giegue often stood in the control room, watching the space out ahead with a careful eye. Ninten was more curious than anything, he would constantly inquire, and frankly Giegue didn’t really mind that. It was strange to take care of a smaller being, but it was enjoyable, especially since Giegue himself was a researcher. 

 

“What are these buttons for?”

Ninten asked one day, looking at a surprisingly not blank wall. Giegue secretly smiled as his favourite hobby was given a chance to be done. Giegue floated over and looked at the buttons, deep in thought. Those ones were never buttons he pressed, so remembering was pretty difficult. Suddenly, it clicked.

”they are to harden the walls in case of an attack. The wall right now could be easily torn through, which is why we harden them. Does that make sense?”

Ninten nodded with a small smile, while Giegue pushed one of the buttons, watching as the walls on the room seemed to now have a strange look to them, kind of like the surface of a rock, like a diamond. Ninten felt the walls and looked back at Giegue with a widening grin. They were slowly getting closer, and he felt nothing wrong with that right now. The asthmatic boy then asked another question, this one was not as well received. 

“Do you Love Maria?” The smaller human asked, smile dropping. Giegue felt dispear and rage build inside of him, wasn’t destroying Maria’s world and kind the worst betrayal to her? Giegue shook, curse him for feeling, he had to complete his goal. He stared at Ninten, who was now looking at him in concern. His brown eyes were turning blue, _the same shade as Maria._ Maria haunted him. He felt guilty, he felt horrible, like nothing mattered except the anguish he was going through. Giegue put his paws over his long floppy ears and let out a cry of agony. 

“G-Giegue, are y-you Okay?” Ninten pleaded, hand glowing with a small concentration of PSI. He felt it become neutralized as he was forced to stop moving, a red aura was keeping him secure. He shouldn’t have asked, hadn’t he? Giegue looked up at Ninten with glowing red eyes staring through him, he raised a hand and Ninten went flying back into the hardened wall at a quick speed. Ninten cried out in pain and he was suddenly dropped. It hurt, his back hurt, the wind had been knocked out of him. He flopped uselessly on the ground, unable to move with all the pain, the sickening crack when he made impact echoed around the room. 

Giegue snapped from his daze and gasped, he was tearing up as well. He rushed forwards only for Ninten to glare. “GET AWAY YOU MONSTER!!!” Giegue’s ears flattened as he watched the human struggle, all without anything being done to help him. Giegue called over a Starman instead, and watched as it effortlessly scooped the sobbing human up. Ninten was able to cast LifeUp and breathed a sigh. He felt better physically, but his trust was destroyed. Giegue mentally scolded himself as he finally dared to inch closer, only to be met with a hostile glare. Giegue sighed before nodding to the Starman. The Starman held the sulking boy carefully, back towards the Alien, who gently lay a paw on his spine, to be met with a cry. 

Giegue nodded to himself, however dread filled his being, recovery PSI wasn’t his forté, especially with one unwilling to get better, Ninten didn’t trust him, and because of this outburst, they were back to square one. 

“Ninten, I am going to try to heal you, please hold still, I promise you that I am not going to hurt you. I’m sorry.” In response, said boy grumbled and tried to squirm away, only to cry out again. His own powers were strong, especially healing, but the lack of concentration clearly made it difficult to heal straight after. Giegue suddenly had an idea, his almost overwhelming power flittered out and floated gently towards the boy, who regulated his breathing with the removal of the pain. “There, Don’t you feel better? How about we head off to bed?” 

Giegue was mildly surprised when his attempts at coaxing the child were successful. If the overgrown cat were more familiar with humans,he would have noticed how pale Ninten was. However he still stiffened up when Giegue got close, displaying the distrust. The Starman however refused to put the human down and started floating off suddenly without warning, letting cheerful beeping sounds fill the air. The alien blinked, mentally noting the fault and possible malfunction before floating after them with great haste. 

 

Ninten was livid, but also in a frail state. He had definitely been using his powers a lot, practicing conjuring a PK Beam, all attempts failed and left him drained. He couldn’t even manage to cast LifeUp properly. He felt hot with anger, he was so close to bonding with the alien, and then he goes and slams him into a wall, how aggravating is that? He would admit that he felt very safe when his great-uncle cast LifeUp himself, it was powerful, but also had an underlying guilt and concern. 

_Yeah, that doesn’t excuse him from ramming me into a wall_.

Human dunce was determined to stay mad, but he suddenly felt tired, naturally tired. However it wasn’t normal. He decided to chalk it up to psychic stuff he didn’t understand, most got that, right? He looked up at the rather happy Starman in a bit of confusion, why was it bouncing? Probably some cruel joke. They soon reached a door, a wooden one. The Starman gently set Ninten on his feet, supporting the human still, just in case, Ninten was happy for that. He slowly turned the knob, revealing the blue room he had started to call his own. The Starman helped him towards the bed and Ninten took a seat on it, his back didn’t hurt as much but it still caused great discomfort. 

“Knock knock.”

A deep voice called in softly, and Ninten glared at the alien in the doorway. 

“Look...I’m Sorry. I really am... for loosing my temper.” 

Ninten turned away, arms crossed, a sour look on his face. He wouldn’t budge. Giegue sighed.

”I did something wrong....please forgive me.” 

Ninten remained deaf, and Giegue cursed out in an unfamiliar language. He seemed to become... fluffier? Desperation laced his voice, dripping from it.

“Maria, please-“

”I’m not Maria.” 

Ninten was shaking, tears rolling down his cheeks, not showing any sign of stopping. He grit his teeth, visible signs of aggravation. He then turned his head to look at Giegue. 

“I’m not Maria, I’m Ken Itoi, also known as Ninten. I never will be Maria, is that the only reason you acknowledge me? Because I’m related to your mom? Is that all you see me as? Some relic of someone you’ll never see again? IS THAT WHY, GIEGUE!?!?!?” 

If anyone ever saw Ninten mad before, it reached a new level. His breathing was heavy as he felt adrenaline pump through his veins, he felt dizzy, he was breathing hard, and sweating. The angry human kicked off his shoes and grabbed the blanket, laying down on his side away from Giegue and pulling the soft fabric over his hatted head. Giegue sighed, he majorly screwed up. He knew it. He nodded towards the Starman, it positioned itself in the room, watching the angry bump intently as he turned to leave the room. 

He didn’t get emotions, despite being an empath. He would never get them either. Anger was something that left more wounds, it was destructive. 

Through Maria, Giegue learned that the best way to deal with other emotions was through patience. 

 

_Giegue would just have to be patient._

 


	5. Chapter 4: worse comes to worst

_Hot._

Why was his face so warm? He didn’t do anything, right? No embarrassing baby photos?

_Sticky._

It was uncomfortable, almost like he was stuck underwater, yet he could breathe perfectly fine. His skin felt wet, yet how could he be? He couldn’t remember much, it was a bit hazy.

_Cold. Shivering._

_D_ espite how warm his face felt, and the fact that he seemed to be surrounded by a warm environment, he was cold, he shook uncontrollably, the chills attacked his body, yet his body felt like it was getting more damp. And suddenly,

_ Pain  _

It exploded in the front of his head and quickly spread to the sides and soon the back, it hurt, and the world around him because a haze. He couldn’t tear his mind from the gnawing agony that caused a feeble whine to escape past his lips. He felt like the world was spinning, yet he hadn’t moved from the bed. A small beep was heard and he immediately whimpered in response, everything hurt, even noise. 

A loud slam. 

More pain. **It HURTS!**  

He couldn’t move, even if he could, it would result in more pain. He didn’t care, he wanted it to be over! Soon, he felt a presence, and then a fluffy hand, a _cold_  fluffy hand. He instinctively leaned into the touch, desperate for something to relieve the warmth of his face. It reached under his legs, and he was suddenly ripped from the warmth, and into the cold. Ninten’s shivering became uncontrollable as he lay in the cold, fluffy arms. He couldn’t move much in this weakened state, yet he felt warmth a little off to the side, so he snuggled into it, letting out a small sigh. 

 

Giegue was shocked. When he had picked up Ninten, he expected anything except this. The small boy had actually welcomed him and used him to try to get warm. Wasn’t he already warm enough though? Giegue shook his head and remembered a small diary he had found. It wasn’t in George’s writing, but it was all about humans. He knew something was wrong with his grandnephew. Giegue nodded to the Starman and it sped out with a beep before soon appearing again, holding up a leather-bound journal. Giegue sighed in relief that he still had it around. 

He didn’t know from where the journal was from, but it was addressed to him with “my darling little Giegue” so he had an idea. His mother was always calling him that, and that would make sense if it carried information about humans. Giegue guessed Maria thought he wouldn’t let it get into the wrong hands, well back to the task.

The alien looked down at the pained expression on the smaller Human’s face and raised a paw to move some strands of black hair from his sticky forehead. He then stood, begun floating, and exited the room. He wanted to get him somewhere else, somewhere it would be easier to care for an ill human. He thought of bringing him to his own personal chamber, however that would probably provoke more questions then offer closure, so he figured that the hot spring would be better. 

Hot Springs had a weird effect on Giegue’s kind, they healed not only physical injuries and cleaned them, but they also chased away insanity, which was how he had managed to stay sane after loosing Maira. The springs could also often be used with PSI to completely heal some illnesses. Giegue only hoped it would work for Ninten. However now that he thought of it, he could go for a dip as well, his fur was getting a bit matted.

The door opened up and he readjusted the human in his arms before floating forwards into the pleasantly warm room. Giegue noted how Ninten’s laboured breathing seemed to ease up, like the steam from the spring was healing something in his lungs. The alien nodded with a newfound determination and lay him down on a slab raised from the ground. He then reached for a rag that simply was in a small pile, and dipped it into the miraculous healing waters of the spring and squeezed out some of the water. Gently he wiped some of the sweat off of the Human’s face and neck, then he’d re-dip it and rinse and repeat. Patterns were predictable, and Giegue, being calculating, liked predictable. 

 

Humans were unpredictable, and with PSI, or psionic energy, manifesting in their minds, it was easy to see why’d they be a threat. However, aside from George, no human who he’d encountered with PSI seemed inherently evil. It was enough to make the cat-like being think. While George had committed a great sin against his kind, only few were aware of any of it, and with the old man biting the dust, not everything was revealed. Observing Ninten on his journey however showed that he used his PSI to express himself, it was apart of him, and he was pretty in tune with his emotions for the most part. 

Of course after Teddy and EVE.... 

Guilt weighed heavily on the alien’s chest. He lifted a furry hand to wipe at the fur beneath his eyes. It was damp, how strange. It was weird, these strange new emotions, It seemed the more h was around humans the more he-

_Now now Giegue, emotions are just unnecessary, unwanted, you must purge yourself of them._

Giegue tightened his paw into a trembling fist before taking a deep breath, this wasn’t needed. Not now. He just needed to focus on his task. Should he perhaps start using Healing? The alpha stage should cover it, it was about all he could manage anyways. Even a psychic as strong as he couldn’t heal very well, his LifeUp was crucial that he mastered (even that was still extremely weak, it didn’t even work every time), yet healing was a different story. A brainshock induced insanity couldn’t be healed by Healing, usually physical damage did the trick, and unlike humans, he wasn’t as susceptible to paralysis or the dreaded PK Flash. He never had much use for it. If he managed to get this small human to a stable state, he could take care of the rest. 

“Mom....? I feel bad..” a sudden, prepubescent voice croaked. It was hoarse, and clearly not quite awake. Giegue blinked at being called a mom, but shrugged it off as a hallucination. Wait, were those normal?  

Giegue entered a panicked state and looked around for the Starman with the journal, in his tizzy, he didn’t notice that it was approaching behind him and the hasty alien started flittering around the room in a daze, muttering panicked curses under his breath because he didn’t know what in the name of the overlords above he was doing. 

The Starman would have sighed if it could breathe. 

The robot parked itself right in front of Giegue before he could descend into insanity (which he already had) and almost smacked the alien in the face with the book, much to the poor soul’s dismay. 

 

“Oh.......that’s where it was...uhm, forgive me for loosing my composure.” 

 

If the Starman was programmed to roll it’s eyes, it would, except it didn’t have any eyes. It dropped the book into Giegue’s waiting paws and went on it’s way. What a sassy robot. Again, Giegue found it unusual that the Starman were acting differently, two different ones? It couldn’t be a glitch. He would have to investigate later, after he helped his grandnephew. 

Giegue burried his snout into the book as he read up a bit about an illness called “fever”, confirming his suspicions, fevers did indeed cause hallucinations. So now that the alien was better prepared, he knew kind of what to expect. 

Time to rinse and repeat again. 

 

“Mimmie? Minnie? Are.......you playing a ....prank?” 

 

“Ana, Lloyd, are you waiting for someone? Who?” 

 

“Dad, why are you never home? And why do you and Mom fight so much? What are you doing with those papers?”

 

“Am I alive?” 

 

“Honest to goodnes, Ninten, get better so I don’t have to listen to this.” 

 

Giegue sighed and weighed his options, he could try Healing  **α.** He didn’t want to risk anything, but this may ne his only choice. He knew it was a selfish idea, but he didn’t want to lose his last ties to his dear mother. However, the alien was disastrous at support PSI aside from a strong psychic shield. He was worried he would cause much more suffering. Yet as the feverish mumbling went on, growing more and more disturbing, graphic, and eerie, Giegue knew that he had to at least try. 

Inhaling deeply, a furry paw rested on the human’s unnaturally hot chest, red eyes closed and a rush of psionics caused the paw to emit a glow. It spread out in waves, but soon, the heat felt much colder, natural. Giegue took his paw away, staring in disbelief that he had actually used Healing successfully. Ninten’s eyes fluttered open and he winced at the light, even though it was a dim room. The human attempted to sit up, only to lean into Giegue, who had placed a single paw on his opposite arm. 

“......was I sick?” Ninten started, reaching up to feel his forehead. The alien snickered a bit at the sluggish movement and the dazed expression, he found it rather, he dare say, cute, but chose to respond. 

“Yes, you had what a human may call, a fever, I healed you.” Ninten blinked in response, it was comforting to have him curled up, in a relaxed state, and Giegue couldn’t help the warm bubbling feeling in his chest, happiness. It was the pride of having someone to look after, and he didn’t know how he could describe it but wanting to help something grow, to comfort someone, to protect somebody from harm. Giegue assumed that this was what most human parents felt. 

It was what Maria felt.


End file.
